Combined blog for the Harford Area Weekly Kriegpielers (HAWKs).

Star Wars Combat Patrol(TM) Play Test

Buck

The Rebels plot…

This weekend I had a couple of the folks over who are working on supplements to Combat Patrol™ to help Greg play test aspects of his Star Wars supplement for Combat Patrol™. All the combat stuff is working fine. A focus of this play test was to look at the Jedi rules. Greg has come up with rules to represent different Jedi powers from the movies, The Clone Wars, Rebels, and some of the “canon” comics. We wanted to try to test as man of them as possible during this test. Some powers got more testing than others, and we agreed that we need at least one more play test to work off a few more of the rough edges, but in general, it seemed to be working well.

Stormtroopers and a “chicken walker” advance

In this scenario, the good guys (Stormtroopers — I was on that side), were attacking a Rebel scum base. Our goal was to plant one or more thermal detonators on the ships and disable them, killing as many Rebels as possible in the process. Their goal was to stop us from doing that.

The Rebels were supported by Luke Skywalker and Yoda. On our side we had Darth Vader (pre “I am your father.”) and Darth Geoff, named after one of our club members.

A blast from the chicken walker goes long, inflicting no damage on the Rebels.

Most of the Rebels began near the freighter and in the three quonset huts. As the game began they took up defensive positions on top of the Phantom and in the woods surrounding the base.

Stormtroopers advance…

Led by Darth Vader, three squads of Stormtroopers advance on our right toward the space ships while another squad and the chicken walker provide a screen on our left.

Luke vs. the chicken walker

Luke Skywalker used his acrobatic Jedi leap power to jump onto the chicken walker with the intent of cutting open a hole and dropping in a thermal detonator. The chicken walker was supported by a squad of Stormtroopers who blazed away at Luke to thwart his efforts. Luke used his Jedi shield skill, batting away blaster bolts. Eventually the sheer volume of fire took its toll. After three turns of him batting away bolts, trying to un-stun himself, and cut a hole, he succumbed to several blaster hits and was incapacitated, falling to the ground, where the chicken walker did a celebratory chicken dance on his body. Go Stormtroopers!

Rebels take up a defensive position along the wood line on the Rebel right.

More Stormtroopers advancing

To get into good firing positions, our Stormtroopers had to advance across some open ground. Greg lost half a squad, and one of my squads got badly mauled. Eventually, however, I was able to get into a position in which my blaster rifles were in short range against the Rebels, but their blaster pistols were in long range. Then my superior firepower began to tell, and I began cleaning the Rebels off the Phantom.

Vader and Yoda in an epic light saber battle

Darth Vader used his Jedi inspirational power to lead a sort of Banzai charge against a group of Chris’ Rebels. As part of the action, Darth Vader force leapt into melee with Yoda, but Yoda got a groin hit on Vader (perhaps the only piece of his anatomy not burned off in the lava pit), forcing him back. This melee went on for a couple of turns, with the Stormtroopers eventually getting the better of it.

Another view of the battle of Chris’ woods on the Stormtrooper right

Darth Geoff attacks!

Darth Geoff finally got into the action by Force leaping right on top of the Phantom to engage in hand-to-hand with Dave’s Rebel scum. Dave was able to slow down Darth Geoff with some well-placed blaster fire, and then Yoda Force leapt on the Phantom. Yoda employed the Force push/pull skill on Darth Geoff, throwing him off the Phantom. In the next turn, Yoda cut Darth Geoff in half.

The melee continues…

While Yoda was cutting Darth Geoff down to Yoda’s size, Darth Vader leapt onto the freighter to cut a hole in which to drop a thermal detonator. Despite several rounds of light saber combat with Yoda and some supporting fire from some of Dave’s Rebels, Vader eventually did cut a hole and drop in a detonator, which disabled the freighter. Then Don’s chicken walker, no longer preoccupied by Luke Skywalker, moved to a position that was blocked from Dave’s shoulder-fired rocket launcher and begin shelling the Phantom. After a couple of attempts he was able to penetrate the hull with a really good “die roll.”

Darth and Yoda battle atop the freighter

At that point, with both of their ships in flames, the Rebel spirit broke and they fled the field.

About half of the Jedi skills were tested to an extent that we are comfortable with them. We need at least one more play test before we’ll be comfortable. Greg has completed his “historical research” on the orders of battle for droids, clones, rebels, and Stormtroopers. He has also completed his “historical” research on the various weapons and equipment. Once we clean up the Jedi rules, this free supplement will be ready to post to the Combat Patrol™ rules’ Web page for download.

I have enjoyed these Star Wars games as a way to use all those miniatures from ten or so years ago. The games have been fun. It has also been enjoyable to use a few bits of science-fiction scenery to turn a “normal” table into a Star Wars table. We don’t have the next play test scheduled, but I am hoping to complete this supplement before the end of July.